Boycotts were part of the campaign against Proposition 8. Once the measure passed, some supporters of same-sex marriage announced new boycotts and other actions against supporters of Propostion 8.

In July 2008, Fred Karger launched the group Californians Against Hate. The initial focus of the group was a boycott of three hotels (two in San Diego and one in Idaho) owned by Douglas Manchester, a sizeable donor to the pro-8 forces. Karger told the New York Times, "Our main beef is the exhaustive amount of money he contributed with glee to take away this brand-new right and to write discrimination into the California Constitution for the very first time."[1],[2]

When the boycott began, supporters of Proposition 8 said that it is intimidation of political opponents. Douglas Manchester, a lead spokesperson for the pro-8 campaign, said, "This really is a free-speech, First Amendment issue. While I respect everyone’s choice of partner, my Catholic faith and longtime affiliation with the Catholic Church leads me to believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman."

Publicizing donors over $5,000

One activity promoted by the boycott group is listing the names of all donors to Proposition 8 of over $5,000. These donors are listed on what the boycott group calls a "Dishonor Roll" on its website.[3]

Terry Caster

On July 30, boycott organizers expanded the scope of the boycott to include Terry Caster. Caster owns a self-storage company headquartered in San Diego that has 40 locations throughout California. Boycott organizers are asking opponents of Prop. 8 to "Call Terry Caster", asking him why he and his family members have contributed approximately $300,000 to the pro-8 campaign.

Karger of Californians Against Hate said of the campaign, "We are curious as to why Mr. Caster saw fit to contribute so much money to this campaign of fear and hate. To find out, we are asking our millions of friends and supporters all over the United States to help us by calling Terry Caster and asking him why he and his family are so strongly against marriage equality."

Karger added, "Mr. Caster and many of his eight sons and daughters and their spouses have given a combined total of $293,000 to the Protect Marriage campaign between January and July of 2008."[4]

Bolthouse Farms

In early September, the boycott movement started a "Don't Buy Bolthouse" campaign directed at Bolthouse Farms, a corporation that produces fresh-cut carrots, juices and smoothies. The boycott against Bolthouse was a reaction to the fact that William Bolthouse, Jr., had donated $100,000 to the Prop. 8 campaign.

Action in the boycott included demonstrations at stores carrying the Bolthouse line of jucies--a Ralph's grocery store on Sunset Boulevard and Whole Foods grocery stores at locations in New York City and Washington, D.C.[5]

The anti-Bolthouse effort ended in early October when the CEO of Bolthouse persuaded the organizers of the boycott that donor William Bolthouse had sold his stake in the company in 2005 and when the company agreed to provide a "diversity program designed to support inclusiveness in its dealings with all stakeholders including the LGBT community."

Independent efforts

Apart from the organized boycott, there have been individual efforts by opponents of Prop. 8 to draw negative attention to those who support the proposition.

Sundstroms

A Chevrolet Suburban whose windows were painted with the slogans "Bigots Live Here", "Stop Bigots" and "God Hates Haters" was parked in front of the Sundstrom family's home in suburban San Jose, California for a 72-hour period between October 17 and October 21. The Sundstroms are a Mormon family that has actively supported passage of Proposition 8 by placing a large banner above their garage reading "Protect Marriage Yes on 8 banner".[6],[7]

Focus on Mormons

Logo of the "Revoke LDS Church 501c3 status" movement

According to the San Francisco Chronicle on October 27, "...the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members are increasingly under fire for their support of Proposition 8, which would take away the right of gays and lesbians to marry. In addition to increased protests, online campaigns seek to identify and embarrass Mormons who support the ballot measure."[8]

Nadine Hansen, a Mormon from Utah who opposes Prop. 8, has started an online website, "Mormonsfor8.com", to identify donors to the "Yes on 8" campaign who are Mormons.

Dave Christensen, a Mormon who has donated $30,000 to "Yes on 8", questions why there is so much focus on Mormon involvement in supporting Prop 8 versus focusing on the role of the Catholic church in fighting 8. He believes this is from political expediency, suggesting that Mormons are easier to target than Catholics.

Dante Atkins, the vice president of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, has started a campaign through the online website, DailyKos, to "embarrass the opposition by pointing out and publicizing any contributors they may have", focusing especially on Mormons because "If one religious group is putting close to the majority of the money and the effort into passing this proposition, it is fair to single them out."

Tax-exempt status

After the vote, a movement to question the tax-exempt status of the Mormon church arose. The website for the organization encourages people to send letters to the IRS saying that the Church in its activities in support of Prop 8 exceeded what it is allowed to do as a federally tax-exempt organization.[9]

Campaign ad

A 60-second television advertisement, "Home Invasion: Vote NO on Prop 8", was aired during the final week of the campaign by the issues committee of the Courage Campaign. In the ad, two canvassers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints invade the home of a lesbian couple, take their wedding rings off their fingers and tear up their marriage license. The ad was denounced by the "Yes on 8" campaign, which said, "This ad reaches new lows of religious bigotry and intolerance."[10]

The Courage Campaign also obtained 17,000 signatures on a letter to the LDS Church calling on the church to end its support for Proposition 8. The letter says, "Your freedoms do not include the ability to take away rights from anyone."[11]

Post-election temple protests

Post-election boycotts

Scott Eckern

Scott Eckern, the artistic director of the California Musical Theatre and Sacramento Music Circus, announced his resignation from these positions on November 12. Eckern had contributed $1,000 to the campaign in favor of Prop 8. When this was discovered after the election, a boycott of the theaters was suggested; in Eckern's resignation notice, he said he was resigning in order to avoid harm coming to the theater groups for which he had worked. Eckern also wrote an apology letter.[12],[13],[14]